Merciless' One-shot
by The Rich Alder
Summary: A few months after Robin came back after killing Grima, she is devastated to find out little Lucina has an incurable disease. Lucina only has a few months to live. Can Robin handle the mental stress?


Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem

I waited, trying to keep my composure as I waited for the Cleric to finish inspecting the infant on my lap. She sighed and stood up to look at me on an even level. "I don't know if we can do anything," the Cleric said, shaking her head. "I've seen similar cases before."

"And..?" I inquired.

"We've never been able to save them. There's no known medicine. I hate to say it, but the chances she'll survive are almost nil."

I clenched my teeth together in anger and frustration. I felt that emotion I didn't have a name for. The one that made me want to hire every Cleric and Priest in the world to find a cure. The cure to save my little Lucina.

Yet, at the same time, I felt that feeling of dread. That feeling of despair. I knew deep in my heart that Lucina wouldn't survive. Whatever it was, there just wasn't a cure. Many had speculated about the rare disease. It striked infants, killing them after months of agony. Merciless. That's what it was.

Chrom put a comforting hand on my shoulder, although I could see he was struggling with the ill news as well. "So there's absolutely nothing we can do?"

The Cleric once again shook her head. Her brown eyes filled with sadness. "Absolutely nothing. There's not even anything to ease her pain."

As if on cue, Lucina began to cry. I held her up, gently trying to hush her. "Chrom, go pay the Cleric," I told him.

"Robin…" he trailed off.

I looked at him. In that moment, I felt 1,000 years older.

"All right," he agreed quietly.

I still kept up in my efforts, but Lucina wouldn't calm down. "It hurts, doesn't it?" I murmured. All I wanted to do was just ease her pain. Even if for just a moment.

At last, Lucina fell into a restless slumber. I put her back in her crib and left as quietly as I could. I sat on a nearby chair in the hallway. The Lucina from the future sat next to me. "What's the news?" she asked.

"She's not going to survive. The Clerics don't know what it is. No one has ever survived." My voice was starting to crack. I felt flushed and hot.

Lucina put her hand on mine. "Mother…" she murmured, not knowing what to say. We both sat there in silence. I could see the shadow of worry in her eyes.

"Afraid you'll disappear if she dies?" I asked.

"No." The lie sounded bitter coming out of her mouth. "I'm just wondering how she could have gotten sick. I wasn't ever sick when I was young. This doesn't match up."

"We changed events in history, Lucina. By doing this, we've probably done something to affect little Lucina's future. In fact, it was probably something we could never see as connected to her getting sick. Such as kicking a certain rock against a tree." I lowered my eyes. "We'll never be able to wrap our fickle, little minds around it."

Lucina gave my hand a light squeeze. I smiled slightly. It felt nice and comforting. Suddenly, Morgan ran up. He tackled Lucina. "Lucinaaaaa!" he cried. "Father told me the news! I don't want my other self to grow up not knowing you!"

Lucina patted his back gently for a few seconds. "You shouldn't be running to me, Morgan. There's someone else you should talk to."

Morgan turned to face me, his childish attitude temporarily subdued. "Mother, I…"

"I-It's all right, Morgan." My hands trembled slightly. "I'm fine."

Everyone in the hallway stood silent. Then Morgan embraced me. "You don't have to keep it bottled up," he told me.

Before I realized what I was doing, I was sobbing into his shoulder. "I just don't know what I'm going to do," I cried. "I can't help her while she suffers!" I slumped down to the floor, still crying slightly. "It's merciless…" I murmured.

Chrom walked up. "Robin! What's wrong?!"

"Father!" both Lucina and Morgan exclaimed. The two left, leaving me alone with Chrom. He knelt down next to me. He didn't say anything, but his presence was enough to slightly comfort me.

I grasped his hand. "I don't want her to die," I murmured.

"Listen. I'm not good at putting these kind of things into words, but I'll try. We will do _everything _within our power to help our daughter. In the end, it's up to her whether she'll survive or not."

His words calmed me and I released his hand. He put his arm around me and helped me up. "Come on. You should get some sleep." He walked me toward our bedchambers where I collapsed on the bed from emotional exhaustion.

**I opened the door to the nursery and crept in as quietly as possible. **I walked over to see Lucina asleep in her crib. I reached a slender hand in her crib to feel her forehead. Before I could finish doing so, she grabbed my fingers in her chubby mallet of a hand and giggled. Her hand was burning hot. It's been months since she caught the sickness and she wouldn't survive much longer. What honestly amazed me though, was how despite all this pain, she rarely showed signs of pain. I felt my breath catch in my throat as I looked at the little bundle before me bathed in moonlight.

_I made this. _

My heart swelled with love for this child. This child that was soon to die. I leaned down and kissed her forehead, causing her to giggle more. As I walked out the door, she began to cry. I turned back towards her. "Just this once," I said quietly. I layed on the floor near the crib. She had stopped crying and settled down to sleep. I couldn't help but remember the time when I got back for the first time after defeating Grima. I had only been gone for a few months after I slayed my future self. Chrom had found me and brought me home. And as happy as I was to see everyone else, the person who I was the happiest to see was little Lucina. Not even a year old. _She's still not even a year old now, _I thought to myself. I settled down to sleep, for once smiling a genuine smile.

**I yawned as I awoke to gentle sunlight. **No longer were the moonbeams shining against the floor. I got up, groaning from the pain in my back. "I'm hurting something bad. Isn't that right, Lucina?" I turned my head towards her still figure. I smiled. She must still be asleep. While trying to pick up some discarded toys on the floor, I slipped and hit the crib. It rattled violently. I shot up like I'd been shocked with Thoron. Lucina still didn't wake up. "Luce, come on." I put my hand near her face. She didn't react. "Lucina?" I touched her forehead. It was ice-cold. My voice began to tremble. "Wake up, Lucina. Come on. You can do it."

No reaction.

My hands began to tremble. "Lucina." I grabbed her hand and tried to lift it up. It flopped back next to her uselessly. "L-Lucina..?" My whole body burned. Tears stung my eyes as they fell freely. I threw back my head. "Gods damn it all!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I sobbed wildly while Chrom burst into the room. He saw my sobbing figure.

"What's wrong?"

"I-I spent the night in her room. And when I woke up, she was dead!" I wailed in despair.

Chrom looked over the crib to see Lucina's limp figure in the center. He gripped the crib so hard, the top bar snapped in half. He sighed and dropped down next to me. He embraced me, letting my tears soak into his clothes. "It's going to be fine," he said.

I couldn't do anything but sob into his arm. "Life is… so merciless," I choked out.

Fin

_ That was a lot of fun to write! Although, it took me a while since I typed this with a case of strep throat :(. Since I already wrote a Morgan death fic, I thought "why not a Lucina death fic?". Also, since I haven't gotten around to saying this before, I'll just do so now: you may have already noticed, but when I put a sentence in bold, that means it's the start of a another paragraph after a time skip ('cause I don't know how to do a page break). Thanks to Gunlord500 for reviewing all my FE:A fics (so far, at least)! Hope you enjoyed~_


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